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Transfer Focus: Newcastle - Who will follow Debuchy in?

A disappointing first half of the season means there is pressure on Alan Pardew and his scouting team to find players who can mirror Papiss Cisse’s impact last year, with the Newcastle manager admitting they should have made more signings in the summer.

Where the team needs to strengthen

Considering Newcastle started the season with two of the most highly-rated strikers in the division, it’s odd they now need to bolster their attack again, but with Ba set to leave, and Cisse out of form they need to pick up a new goalscorer. They could also do with greater depth at the back, with Coloccini’s long absence in the early months of the season highlighting their lack of options. Finally, cover on the wings is needed, with Hatem Ben Arfa’s injury problems severely hindering the side partly because of the lack of replacements available.

Top targets

Newcastle’s recent transfer success stories will see them linked with plenty of players in the French league, with Mathieu Debuchyand Loic Remythe two names most commonly associated with them. The right back has already agreed to make the switch to Newcastle in the first few days of the window. They could round off a quadruple swoop on Ligue 1 with midfielder Moussa Sissoko, who is available on the cheap as his contract expires in the summer, and Pierre Aubameyang, who is valued at around £10 million by St. Etienne. Southampton’s Adam Lallana has been mooted as someone they could look to sign, but might prove too expensive as the Saints will not want to sell to another Premier League side. If Newcastle fancy another Senegalese ace, Cluj’s Modou Sougou could be available for £2 million, with the winger impressing in the group stages of this year’s Champions League. At the back, interest may be revived in FC Twente’s Douglas, who was close to a move to England in the summer. Dinamo Kiev’s Artem Milevsky is another player who could be brought in to bolster the attack, with a reported price tag of £7 million.

Likely outgoings

Newcastle did very well to keep their star players in the summer, but Demba Ba was always likely to leave, and Chelsea were the team ready to meet his £7 million buy out clause. Other than Ba, Sammy Ameobi could leave on loan to gain first team experience.

Budget

Pardew has stated he wants to sign at least three players, and will probably needs at least £15-20 million to do that. Whether Mike Ashley is willing to back the manager he gave an 8 year contract to that extent is yet to be seen.

Predictions

Now Demba Ba has left, you’d expect Newcastle to make plenty of signings to try and replace the Senegalese striker. Debuchy is likely to be the first of many through the gates at St James’ Park.

Nick Harris

I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.